[gimmeheadroom]

99.99%.

DoP is there, as MS Windows do not support native DSD in their sound system, the same the latest MAC OS. And the S/PDIF family, of course.

From a DDC perspective passing through DoP and a native formats over I2S would be an extreme simplification affecting jitter. Magna Hifi do not specify clearly enough whether conversion from DoP to native take place on DI-20, but I am sure it does. A native format is exactly what ladder accept. If DDC passed DoP without conversion, it would complicate clock synchronisation on a DAC, as bit rate of DoP and a native DSD is different. It is much easier to do conversion on the DDC, as it is a place where master clock is created. Therefore my rating as above.

I sent a question to Kingwa about this, let's see what he says.

 

[Nkam]

Anyone here try HQplayer with their A26?

thanks

 

[nicks25]

Anyone here try HQplayer with their A26?

thanks

I have the A26 and started with a free HQP trial about 2 weeks ago. After 1 week, I decided to purchase. I have both Roon and HQP installed on an M1 Mac Mini with 16Gb of memory. I started by upsampling to DSD, both 256 and 512 (only with the AMSDM7EC 512+fs modulator). This week I tried PCM to 768k. Am happy with both DSD and PCM. I need to do some more experimenting with filters.

The Roon Community forum and the Audiophilestyle forums both have a lot of good info. The creator of HQP, Jussi Laako, is active on both.

 

[Nkam]

I have the A26 and started with a free HQP trial about 2 weeks ago. After 1 week, I decided to purchase. I have both Roon and HQP installed on an M1 Mac Mini with 16Gb of memory. I started by upsampling to DSD, both 256 and 512 (only with the AMSDM7EC 512+fs modulator). This week I tried PCM to 768k. Am happy with both DSD and PCM. I need to do some more experimenting with filters.

The Roon Community forum and the Audiophilestyle forums both have a lot of good info. The creator of HQP, Jussi Laako, is active on both.

I use HQplayer as well.
thanks for responding.
the Sinc M filter is quite special I think. i tried it on and off for weeks. It’s very good.

DSD I’m still on the fence about. It sounds a bit bigger and wider , but also less weight to the instruments. Sounds like I’m hearing some distortion. This is at DSD128 btw. I heard the better DSD gets the more it sounds like PCM.

i spoke with Jussi and he told me that AKM chips filters are bypassed when you reach the highest level of upsampling. But the ΣΔ modulator part of the DAC is not.

i need to do some more research on all this.

how do the new filters on the A26 and new AKM chips sound compared to the HQplayer ones?


thanks

 

[nicks25]

I use HQplayer as well.
thanks for responding.
the Sinc M filter is quite special I think. i tried it on and off for weeks. It’s very good.

DSD I’m still on the fence about. It sounds a bit bigger and wider , but also less weight to the instruments. Sounds like I’m hearing some distortion. This is at DSD128 btw. I heard the better DSD gets the more it sounds like PCM.

i spoke with Jussi and he told me that AKM chips filters are bypassed when you reach the highest level of upsampling. But the ΣΔ modulator part of the DAC is not.

i need to do some more research on all this.

how do the new filters on the A26 and new AKM chips sound compared to the HQplayer ones?


thanks

A couple of weeks before I started the trial, I turned off all processing in Roon and just sent bit perfect to the A26 so I had some time to listen to the A26 without any upstream processing. I prefer the HQP filters to the standard A26 filters. I totally agree that using the PCM filters provides more weight to the music than DSD.

I have been using poly-sinc-gauss-xla/poly-sinc-gauss-hires-lp thus far. I will give the Sinc-M filter a try. Are you using Sinc-M for 1x or Nx?

 

[Nkam]

A couple of weeks before I started the trial, I turned off all processing in Roon and just sent bit perfect to the A26 so I had some time to listen to the A26 without any upstream processing. I prefer the HQP filters to the standard A26 filters. I totally agree that using the PCM filters provides more weight to the music than DSD.

I have been using poly-sinc-gauss-xla/poly-sinc-gauss-hires-lp thus far. I will give the Sinc-M filter a try. Are you using Sinc-M for 1x or Nx?

I just put sinc M for both.

My DAC isn’t NOS so I want to bypass the internal filter as much as possible

 

[Spy001]

Hi, I'm a fan of big soundstage and holography, which Gustard would be better for me? A26 or R26?

 

[gimmeheadroom]

I sent a question to Kingwa about this, let's see what he says.

Kingwa says that DSD over AES/EBU is not supported at all, and I received the same answer from Mutec.

Kingwa further says that on the DI-20, even DoP is not supported on AES/EBU or S/PDIF outputs. Mutec says the same thing, but seems to allow for the possibility that it could work.

I confirmed last night that I can output pure DSD from foobar2000 with the ASIOProxy @sajunky alerted me to, via USB to the DI-20HE, from there via AES/EBU to the Mutec MC-3+ USB, and from there to the R8 MK2 over AES/EBU and the R8 MK2 sees it as DSD and plays it normally. Playing PCM and then switching to DSD, the display on the R8 was correct at all times and everything played normally.

If I send DSD or DoP to the Mutec via USB, the Mutec has lights which indicate whether it's DSD or DoP and this works. But when using AES/EBU in and out, neither light is lit.

So the conclusions seem to be that everybody agrees pure DSD over AES/EBU cannot happen, while DoP is not supported (not an intended use case) but might work. And it does with this setup. Really rather fascinating.

 

[Zaurux]

I haven't read anything about your use of the "Sound" options: monitoring or listening and your choices for DS listening: narrow (default) or wide.

 

[Highfive99]

Hi, I'm a fan of big soundstage and holography, which Gustard would be better for me? A26 or R26?

This is review does a good job of highlighting the differences between the two.
https://soundnews.net/sources/dacs/gustard-a26-dac-review-can-it-get-any-better/

 

[Spy001]

This is review does a good job of highlighting the differences between the two.
https://soundnews.net/sources/dacs/gustard-a26-dac-review-can-it-get-any-better/

I usually don't trust reviews

 

[Highfive99]

I usually don't trust reviews

Sandu is a non-biased and very good reviewer. He's got no skin in the game. He tells like it is and goes in depth. He reviewed the X26Pro and nailed it. I pulled the trigger one on after seeing his review and couldn't be happier. No BS with him. As well as his R26 review. No BS. I see no reason not to trust his review of the A26 in which he compares it to the R and he says which DAC does which things better than the other.

 

[Arniesb]

Sandu is a non-biased and very good reviewer. He's got no skin in the game. He tells like it is and goes in depth. He reviewed the X26Pro and nailed it. I pulled the trigger one on after seeing his review and couldn't be happier. No BS with him. As well as his R26 review. No BS. I see no reason not to trust his review of the A26 in which he compares it to the R and he says which DAC does which things better than the other.

Sandu become brand's slave. Not trustworthy.

 

[Palyodgree]

I have a modest speaker system I’m going to try the A-26 in , looks like the A 26 is a tremendous bang for the buck to me anyway.

 

[Vijay74]

Looking at the size of A26, wonder if its good fit/overkill for Headphones? Or is it better fit for speakers system?